Australian Council of Social Service

Lift paltry allowances and help people into paid work

Could you live on $35 a day? That’s how much people unfortunate enough to find themselves out of work have to depend on - to put a roof over their heads, feed and clothe themselves, and get around as they try and find paid work – just $243 per week.

Join our Campaign to raise unemployment allowances such as Newstart and improve jobs assistance.

ACOSS is continuing to lobby federal MPs and Senators for a much needed $50 increases to Newstart and other Allowances ahead of this weeks parliamentary sittings in Canberra. Weekend media reports say that a growing number of Labor backbenchers support an increase and will raise the issue at tomorrow's Labor caucus meeting.

ACOSS urges the Government to do the right thing by some of the most disadvantaged groups in our community and lift income support Allowances such as Newstart, Widows, Youth, and other Allowances, as recommended by the Henry Tax Review.

Please spread the word about our statement (below) to see income support Allowances increased and for greater support to be given to better prepare people into paid work.

If you have any questions or suggestions please contact fernando@acoss.org.au or call on 02 9310 6209.

SIGN HERE

ACOSS STATEMENT

United call for increase to income support Allowances and improved jobs assistance

Australia’s community sector is calling on the Federal Government to make improving the income and job prospects of people out of paid work a top priority for 2012.

There is a growing consensus in the wider community, ranging from business organisations, economists, the union movement, to the broad community and social services sector that the current rate of single Allowance payments is simply not enough for people to live on and is hindering their efforts to find paid work.

With no employment growth last year and the profile of people out of paid work becoming more disadvantaged (people with low skills, long periods out of paid work, disabilities, and of mature age) many will find it hard to secure a job without more help from employment services.

Australia will need to employ more of its unemployed workers as the population ages and labour shortages increase over the medium term, but we don’t do enough to prepare them for employment. Job Services Australia providers are typically funded to offer an interview every two months and just $500-$1000 worth of training or work experience for each person looking for paid work long term.

If labour shortages become more widespread in the next few years, Australia will have a unique opportunity to meet economic and social needs at the same time by dealing with the problem of entrenched unemployment.

The signatories urge the Government to increase Allowance payments for singles by $50 per week as recommended by the Henry Report and to strengthen its investment in employment services.  Far from being a disincentive to find work, increasing the level of allowance payments will help lift a great many out of poverty and put them in a better position to participate in paid work.

Currently more than 575,000 people are living on the Newstart Allowance which is as low as $35 a day for a single adult, and 60% have lived on this payment for over a year.  Altogether, over one million people rely on this and similar ‘Allowance’ payments.

By implementing the following measures, the Government will reduce the high social and fiscal costs of long-term unemployment and strengthen its employment participation agenda.

As a group, the signatories to this Statement call for:

• Increase Allowance payments - Increase the single rate of allowance payments by $50 per week. These include Newstart Allowance, Youth Allowance, Widow Allowance, Sickness Allowance, Special Benefit, Austudy and ABSTUDY.
• Improve employment services for long term unemployed people - The Job Services Australia system should be reformed to make it more responsive to the needs of individual job seekers and employers, including by increasing the resourcing of JSA providers. Providers should receive at least as much funding to provide work experience and training for long-term unemployed people as they do for people unemployed for shorter periods.
• Expand wage subsidy schemes - Double the number of places in the new wage subsidy scheme for people out of paid work long term to 20,000 in the program’s second year, and introduce a scheme that fully subsidises up to 6 months of paid employment for the most deeply disadvantaged jobseekers (including through social enterprises).
• Make VET work for jobseekers - Earmark a substantial number of training places under the new national VET scheme for jobseekers, together with new incentives and resources for training organisations to adapt training to the needs of jobseekers and work more closely with employment services.
• Lock in supports for jobseekers in deeply disadvantaged areas - In areas of high and entrenched levels of unemployment, the Government should negotiate with States and Territories to supplement funding for employment, health, housing and community services to encourage them to work together to build pathways to employment for those with multiple social disadvantages.

ADD YOUR NAME AND SUPPORT AUSTRALIA'S UNEMPLOYED

The more names we can add to this statement the more powerful it will be when we present it to our Federal Parliamentarians in the coming weeks. Please encourage your organisation to add their name to the statement. If you are a member of an organisation that has already signed, please show your individual support by encouraging friends and others to take action on this important issue by adding their names as well.

Signatories

• Australian Council of Social Service
• ACT Council of Social Service
  Aged, Disability and Carer Advocacy Service
  AIDS Council of SA
  Anex (Association for Prevention and Harm Reduction Programs Australia)
  Anglicare Australia
  Anglicare Sydney
  Anglicare WA
  Australian Association of Social Workers TAS Branch
  Australian Association of Social Workers WA Branch
  Australian Council of Trade Unions
  Australian Federation of AIDS Organisations
  Australian Federation of Disability Organisations
  Australian Services Union
  Australian Youth Affairs Coalition
  Australians for Native Title and Reconciliation
  Baptist Care SA
  Berry Street
  Cancer Council NSW
  Care Financial Counselling and the Consumer Law Centre of the ACT
  Carers Australia
  Carers Victoria
  CareWorks SA&NT
  Cassia Community Centre
  Catholic Social Services Australia
  Central Qld Indigenous Development
  CentrelinkNews
  Children by Choice
  Churches of Christ CareWorks
  Citizens Advice Bureau ACT
  Community Housing Federation of Australia
  Community Information and Support Information Victoria
  COTA Australia
  Council of Single Mothers and their Children (Vic)
  Council of Social Service of NSW
  Disability Employment Australia
  DOME Association Inc
  Eastern Community Legal Centre
  Edmund Rice Centre for Justice and Community Education
  ER Victoria
  Ethnic Child Care Family and Community Services Cooperative
  Family & Relationship Services Australia
  Family Planning NSW
  Financial Counselling Australia
  Good Shepherd Youth & Family Service
  Granville Multicultural Community Centre Inc
  Hanover Welfare Services
  Healthy KIds Association
  Heta Incorporated
  HomeGround Services
  Homelessness Australia
  Homelessness NSW Inc
  HopeStreet
  Human Rights Law Centre
  Illawarra Forum Inc
  Illawarra Legal Centre
  Indigenous Consumer Assistance Network Ltd
  Inner Sydney Regional Council
  Jennine Blundell Consulting
  Jobs Australia Ltd
  Justice and International Mission Unit, Uniting Church in Australia, Synod of Victoria and Tasmania
  Justice for Children Australia
  Liverpool Youth Accommodation
  Living Learning Pakenham
  Mental Health Association NSW
  Mercy Foundation
  MIDLAS
  National Association of Community Legal Centres Inc
  National Employment Services Association
  National Tertiary Education Union
  Network SA
  Northern Suburbs Housing Co-operative
  Northern Territory Council of Social Service
  NSW Association for Youth Health
  People with Disability Australia
  Public Health Association of Australia
  Queensland Council of Social Service
  Redfern Legal Centre
  Richmond Community Services Inc
  Sacred Heart Mission
  SANE Australia
  SecondBite
  Sector Connect
  Shelter S.A.
  ShelterNSW
  Single Mum Australia
  Sisters Inside
  Sisters St Joseph
  South Australian Council of Social Service
  St Luke's Anglicare
  St Marys Area Community Development Project Inc.
  St Vincent de Paul Society National Council
  Tasmanian Council of Social Service
  Tasmanian Pensioners Union-Devonport
  Tenants Union of Victoria
  Tenants' Union of NSW
  The Benevolent Society
  The National Welfare Rights Network
  The Salvation Army - Australia
  The Smith Family
  Townsville Community Legal Service Inc
  Travellers Aid Australia
  UnitingCare Australia
  UnitingCare Victoria and Tasmania
  UnitingCare Wesley Adelaide Inc
  UnitingCare Wesley Country SA
  Universal Rights Network
  Victorian Council of Social Service
  Welfare Rights Centre Inc. Queensland
  Welfare Rights Centre, Sydney
  Western Austrlalian Council of Social Services
  Western Sydney Community Forum
  Women's Activities and Self Help House Inc
  Women's Health NSW
  Women's Legal Services NSW
  Working Women's Centre SA Inc
  YHES House
  Youth Affairs Network of Queensland
  YWCA Australia
  YWCA of Canberra
• 
  Plus 716 individuals and counting.